Editing Clannad (section)

===1973–1982: early years and six-piece band with Enya===
{{listen
 | filename     = Clannadliza.ogg
 | title        = "Liza" (1973)
 | description  = A sample of "Liza" from ''[[Clannad (album)|Clannad]]'' (1973), the first song that Clannad wrote.
 | format       = [[Ogg]]
 | pos = left
}}
In 1973, Clannad came in first place in the Letterkenny folk festival and were offered a deal with [[Philips Records]], which they negotiated themselves.<ref name="R213">{{cite web |url= https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/clannad |title=Clannad |first=David |last=Burke |date=November 2013 |work=[[Rock's Backpages]] |access-date=26 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="SOS93" /> Having secured a label, the group prepared material for a debut album. They recorded at [[Eamonn Andrews Studios]] in Dublin, choosing Irish- and English-language songs and a cover of "[[Morning Dew]]" by [[Bonnie Dobson]]. Released in 1973, ''[[Clannad (album)|Clannad]]'' was met with initial resistance from the label because of the use of Irish, and the group soon found themselves more popular outside Ireland, particularly in Germany.<ref name="R213" /> Later in 1973, Clannad competed for Ireland in the heat stages of the [[Eurovision Song Contest 1973|1973 Eurovision Song Contest]] with the song "{{lang|ga|italic=unset|An Pháirc}}".

In 1974, the band followed their debut album with ''[[Clannad 2]]'', released by [[Gael Linn|Gael Linn Records]] and produced by [[Dónal Lunny]], the founder of [[Planxty]] and [[the Bothy Band]]. Like their first album, ''Clannad 2'' featured a mixture of English- and Irish-language songs, with Lunny and members of the Bothy Band on additional instruments. It also featured the band's first use of a synthesizer,<ref name="OTT85" /><ref name="SOS93" /> and was heavier on the folk-rock side, with notable electric guitar, that several later releases.

Their next album, {{lang|ga|[[Dúlamán (album)|Dúlamán]]}} ('Seaweed'), was released in 1976. The title track "{{lang|ga|italic=unset|[[Dúlamán]]}}", a traditional Irish folk song, became a stage favourite. The album was recorded at [[Rockfield Studios]] in Wales and was their first to be produced by [[Nicky Ryan]], who also became the group's manager alongside his wife [[Roma Ryan]]. Clannad capitalised on their growing popularity in Europe by including [[liner notes]] in German and French and undertaking a tour of Europe.<ref name="R213" /> At one show, the standing ovation the band received after an extended rendition of "{{lang|ga|italic=unset|Níl Sé Ina Lá (Níl Sé'n Lá)}}" from ''Clannad'' convinced them to continue as full-time musicians.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002318/19770321/038/0003 |url-access=subscription |title=Popular Irish folk |work=[[Belfast Telegraph]] |date=21 March 1977 |page=3 |via=British Newspaper Archives |access-date=30 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.capitalceltic.com/clannad.shtml/ |title=Clannad |work=CapitalCeltic.com |publisher=Capital Celtic Network |access-date=8 November 2007 |archive-date=17 December 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181217014801/http://www.capitalceltic.com/clannad.shtml/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> Recordings from a tour of Switzerland in 1978 were released in the following year as ''[[Clannad in Concert]]''. Also in 1979, Clannad undertook a 36-date tour of North America, the most extensive by an Irish band at that time.<ref>{{cite news |title='Rolling Stone' column |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3-RaAAAAIBAJ&pg=6432%2C1706839 |access-date=22 March 2012 |work=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |date=3 January 1980 |first=Kurt |last=Loder |author-link=Kurt Loder |page=17D}}</ref>

[[File:Clannad on stage at Leeds Folk Festival, UK, 1982 (photograph by Tony Rees).jpg|270px|thumb|At the 1982 Leeds Folk Festival]]
In 1980, Clannad became a six-piece band when Nicky Ryan invited a younger Brennan sister, [[Enya|{{lang|ga|italic=unset|nocat=y|Eithne}} (Enya)]], to join as an additional singer and keyboard player to expand the group's sound via extra vocals and electronic instruments. {{lang|ga|italic=unset|Eithne}}'s first recordings with Clannad were made as a guest musician (uncredited) on their fifth studio album, {{lang|ga|[[Crann Úll]]}} ('Apple Tree'), which was recorded in [[Cologne]], Germany, and released in 1980 on [[Tara Music]]. "{{lang|ga|italic=unset|[[Ar a Ghabháil 'n a 'Chuain Domh]]}}" featured a particularly full band arrangement which reflected their live jams, while "{{lang|ga|italic=unset|Lá Cuimhthíoch Fán dTuath}}" showed early hints of a more atmospheric side to the band's arrangements.

By the time Clannad entered [[Windmill Lane Studios]] in Dublin to record their next album, {{lang|ga|[[Fuaim]]}} ('Sound'), {{lang|ga|italic=unset|Eithne}} had become a full-time member. This album, on the [[Tara Records]] label, continued the group's experimentation with electronic instruments, and {{lang|ga|italic=unset|Eithne}} was featured on lead vocals on "{{lang|ga|italic=unset|An tÚll}}" and "{{lang|ga|italic=unset|Buaireadh an Phósta}}". [[Neil Buckley]] played clarinet and saxophone, with Noel Bridgeman on percussion and Pat Farrell on electric guitar. {{lang|ga|Fuaim}} was released by Tara Music in 1982. Despite Nicky Ryan's attempt to steer Clannad towards a more layered, electronic, heavily-produced direction, he felt that they had a tendency to revert to their original folk-music style; following arguments and a band meeting during a 1982 European tour, the Ryans resigned as group managers. {{lang|ga|italic=unset|Eithne}}, feeling increasingly restricted in a band setting, departed with them to pursue what would prove to be an internationally sucessful a solo career, as [[Enya]], with the Ryans as collaborators,<ref>{{cite news |url= https://newspapers.com/image/405923168/ |title=Enya hits high ''Watermark'' sans Clannad ... |first=Chris |last=Willman |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=68 |date=5 March 1989 |access-date=24 December 2018 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>.